Matt Leslie
Today, July 5, 2013, marks the second anniversary of the beating of Kelly Thomas by officers of the Fullerton Police Department. On the night of July 5, 2011, officers responded to a telephone call claiming that Mr. Thomas, a schizophrenic homeless man well-known in the area, had been testing car door handles in the parking lot of the Fullerton Transportation Center. The responding police officers escalated what could have been a routine situation into a beating that left Mr. Thomas so severely injured that he never regained consciousness, and was eventually taken off of life support systems by his grieving family.
Much has happened in the intervening two years, but much remains to be done. Officers involved in the beating have been charged, but have not yet gone to trial. Michael Sellers, Fullerton’s Chief of Police at the time, is long gone, eventually replaced by Dan Hughes. One lawsuit against the city has been settled, another has yet to be resolved. City Council members were recalled from office for not being responsive to the crisis, and others elected in their place. Some reforms have been enacted by Chief Hughes, but two years later there is still no civilian oversight of the Fullerton Police Department.
The summer of 2011 is still fresh in the minds of those of us who, week after week, filled the sidewalks, and sometimes streets, in front of police headquarters to demand justice for a murdered man, and for reforms that would help to ensure that it never happened again. It’s hard to forget the rage we felt because we still feel it, but we can remember Kelly Thomas in a quieter way tonight at the place where his life was taken from him. Meet at 7:00 pm at Kelly’s Corner, near the bus depot at the Fullerton Transportation Center for a peaceful candlelight vigil organized by Kelly’s mother.
fullertonrag.com 
It was good seeing you there Matt. The received nice coverage on TV with KTLA & Fox that I saw, and the OC Weekly and others in print. I have been mostly silent on this issue for the last 7 months as I figured while all the court delays happen and there is very little news, for me to have continued to rant about this case would have burnt people out and worse tuned them out. Now that a trial date is set in October, however, we need to slowly start dialog and organizing things. The DA and the jury pool need to know that our community is still invested in this case and that we expect no half measures from the prosecution.
I like to think that the emotions Tony Rackaucuas showed at the press conference last year when 2 of the 3 officers were charged by his department was genuine, but a fair look at this career demonstrates that politics come always come first for him, not ethics. Consequently, talking about justices may not inspire someone like that so this particular DA needs to know that the political fallout of not winning this case due to an uninspired prosecution against Ramos, Cincinelli and Joe Wolfe, are far greater than any favor he may receive from the police, the department with whom he must work with daily on other cases.
Hopefully we can organize some event that will bring out big numbers in early October.
LikeLike